10 New Food Books You Actually Want for Christmas

This year saw an uptick in remarkable food books that offer so much more than just recipes. Kogi BBQ founder Roy Choi gave us a look at his childhood growing up as a social outsider on the streets of Los Angeles, while ramen savant Ivan Orkin recounted the unlikely story of a man from Long Island opening up a celebrated noodle shop in Tokyo. World-famous Noma chef René Redzepi published his actual journal alongside a flickable photo album, and the team behind Eleven Madison Park and NoMad showed us what “New York cuisine” truly means. But then, of course, there are recipes—ranging from Four & Twenty Blackbird’s “Salted Caramel Apple Pie” to Redzepi’s “Summer Game and The Forest Floor.”

Here, we take a look at ten books that are at times whimsical, at times tear-jerking, but always captivating and written with a distinct point of view. They will offer a glimpse into the minds of the chefs you love, and what drives them. (Oh, and there’s one that’s just about cheese balls, because cheese balls are awesome.) Did we mention these books make great gifts, too?

Take a look inside some of the year’s standout food books, and add them to your Christmas list before it’s too late.

L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food

Good for: He who loves tacos, loves Los Angeles, and never, ever wants to leave the City of Angels
Bookmark this recipe: Beef Cheek Tacos
Who’s behind it:Roy Choi, L.A.'s irreverent Korean restauranteur and the culinary voice of the streets. (In 2008, Choi started the Kogi BBQ truck, which many credit for catalyizing the food-truck and Korean taco crazes.)
L.A. Son is now no. 20 on the L.A. Times bestseller list, and for good reason. Choi takes us through the neighborhoods and streets of L.A. that most of us never get to see—from Downtown's jewelry district to Latino East L.A.—as he tells the story of how he went from stoner thug to one of Los Angeles' most beloved restauranteurs. The main draw of this book is Choi's lyrical and captivating prose: "I love riding shotgun with the shotguns under my seat, bouncing throughout the streets. That kind of shit is straight Cali, eyes wide open, scanning everything in sight."
Buy it here: $19 on Amazon

Good for: Ramen obsessives and Nipponophiles
Bookmark this recipe: Shio Ramen: The Complete Bowl
Who’s behind it: Ramen savant Ivan Orkin, who moved to Japan 10 years ago and made a name for himself with his eponymous, 12-seat ramen shop in a small town on the outskirts of Tokyo
This tome tells the story of a man who has dedicated his whole life to crafting the perfect bowl of ramen—from his upbringing in Long Island, to opening shop in Tokyo, to becoming an American authority on ramen in Japan. Orkin's story is one of dedication, hardship, and obsession. But, of course, there's also a recipe for Orkin’s immaculate shio ramen with toasted rye noodles, pork belly chashu, and half-cooked egg, as well as recipes for BLT ramen, four-cheese mazemen, and breakfast yakisoba, plus instructions on how to make ramen noodles. Even if you aren't willing to devote days to crafting the perfect shoyu broth, the book is a great addition to your bedside stack.
Buy it here: $18 on Amazon

Roberta's Cookbook

Good for: The pizza nerd who also happens to love everything Brooklyn
Bookmark this recipe: Margherita Pizza
Who’s behind it: Carlo Mirarchi, the self-taught chef who revolutionized the Brooklyn dining scene when he opened Roberta's in Bushwick
Much ink has been spilled over this trailblazing Bushwick institution, but the Roberta's cookbook offers a behind-the-scenes look at the restaurant's unlikely beginnings and its rise to pizza stardom. The recipes here aren't all pizza, though—there's orecchiette with oxtail ragu, venison saddle, gelato cookies, and a slew of incredible cocktails that include ingredients like Sriracha and snap peas. What's more, the photos are absolutely stunning, and there's a slew of bonus snapshots featuring the Roberta's crew and customers partying like there's no tomorrow.
Buy it here: $21 on Amazon

I Love New York: Ingredients and Recipes

Good for: The locavore and die-hard New Yorker in your life
Bookmark this recipe: Oyster Pan Roast
Who’s behind it: The unstoppable team behind the Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park and NoMad in NYC
Chef Daniel Humm and restaurateur Will Guidara have written an epic cookbook to spotlight New York's foods, growers, and artisans. They attempt to tackle the question "What is New York cuisine?" through classic recipes—think egg creams and Delmonico steak—and profiles of the men and women who work tirelessly to provide the ingredients for these recipes. In totality, the 511-page book is a fascinating cultural narrative of New York City and its obsession with good food.
Buy it here: $35 on Amazon

Manresa: An Edible Reflection

Good for: Haute-cuisine fanatics and California farm-to-table junkies who loves discovering new kitchen techniques.
Bookmark this recipe: Lamb and Vegetables Roasted with Summer Savory "Navarin"
Who’s behind it: Chef David Kinch, who runs the Michelin-starred restaurant Manresa in Los Gatos, CA
Manresa: An Edible Reflection is a beautiful rumination on David Kinch's celebrated restaurant and its local purveyors—particularly Cynthia Sandberg of Santa Cruz's Love Apple Farms. Beyond that, this coffee table-worthy tome is pure recipes, which are just as fun to read and gawk at as they are to recreate at home. Not everyone will want to attempt to gather the ingredients for "Raspberry Cremeux with White Chocolate, Anise Hyssop, and Verjus Sorbet," but Manresa is full of vicarious pleasures that anyone with two eyes and a stomach can enjoy.
Buy it here: $30 on Amazon

The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book

Good for: Your cousin who can't wait to come home from work each day and start baking. (Or the boyfriend/girlfriend you wish made you more pastries.)
Bookmark this recipe: Salted Caramel Apple Pie
Who’s behind it: Sibling baking wizards Melissa and Emily Elsenone of Brooklyn’s most beloved pie shop, Four & Twenty Blackbirds.
The Elsenone sisters gained a cult following for their handmade pies in flavors like salted caramel apple, birch beer float, and bittersweet chocolate pecan. Lucky for you, they have revealed their recipes in this gorgeous book, which is absolutely essential for any serious home baker. Their unlikely filling combinations (think strawberries laced with balsamic vinegar) and inventive crusts (i.e., pistachio coconut) will wow even the most jaded dessert lovers.
Buy it here: $19 on Amazon

René Redzepi: A Work in Progress

Good for: New Nordic converts and fans of gorgeous photography
Bookmark this recipe: Summer Game and the Forest Floor
Who’s behind it: René Redzepi, the superstar Danish chef whose restaurant Noma has been awarded the title of world's best three times (2010-2012).
The minute you receive this book set you know it's going to be awesome, considering its actually three books that come bound with a thick, yellow strap. The smallest volume is a flickable photo album, filled with shots of the Noma crew and scenes of Copenhagen. The medium-sized book is René's journal, where he chronicles his day-to-day life at Noma—needless to say, the brilliant chef's life is not an ordinary one, and it involves a lot more animal parts and wilderness expeditions than most of us are used to. The third book contains 100 whimsical recipes (with insanely gorgeous accompanying images) broken down by month to reflect Redzepi's hyperseasonal approach.
Buy it here: $43 on Amazon

The Way We Ate

Good for: The nostalgic food lover and history buff
Bookmark this recipe: "The Américain" Cocktail
Who’s behind it: Food photographers Noah Fecks and Paul Wagtouicz, who enlisted the help of many of the country's premier chefs and food writers, including Jacques Pepin, Gael Greene, Daniel Boulud, Marcus Samuelsson, and Melissa Clark (need we say more?)
The Way We Ate explores the twentieth century through the lens of something we can all related to: gorgeous, delicious food (and booze). Noah Fecks and Paul Wagtouicz (creators of the popular blog The Way We Ate, in which they cook their way through the Gourmet archives) guide you through recipes from 1901 to 2000. For each year, they invite an acclaimed chef or food connoisseur to translate the essence of a historical event into a dish or cocktail. Take Daniel Boulud's "Beef Shank Terrine" (inspired by the opening of Restaurant Daniel in 1993), for example, or Jeremiah Tower's "Quenelles à la Lyonnaise" (inspired by the sinking of the Titanic in 1912).
Buy it here: $24 on Amazon

Robicelli's: A Love Story, with Cupcakes

Good for: People who like their cupcakes with a side of sharp-tongued wit
Bookmark this recipe: Pecan Potato Chip Cupcakes
Who’s behind it: Husband-and-wife baking team Matt and Allison Robicelli, who reinvented the cupcake at their Brooklyn wholesale bakery.
This book delves into how Allison and Matt—two well-known wits in the NYC food scene—launched what is now one of the country's hottest cupcake brands (a venture that began with $30 in borrowed quarters). The couples' sharp-tongued wisdom is peppered throughout recipes like fresh fig cupcakes with goat cheese buttercream and prosciutto flakes, banana Nutella cupcakes, and pear-mascarpone cupcakes. As the Robicellis put it: these are decidedly adult cupcakes, more like small cakes than party favors, so leave your cupcake hating at the door.
Buy it here: $21 on Amazon

Great Balls of Cheese

Good for: Any cheese fanatic, or lover of retro-chic appetizers
Bookmark this recipe: Beer-Pretzel Ball
Who’s behind it: Food writer Michelle Buffardi previously worked at MarthaStewart.com; now, she's obsessed with molding cheese into awesome shapes like Christmas trees and penguins.
The humble cheese ball—a.ka., the perfect no-cook party appetizer—is the key to truly great entertaining. Buffardi molds delicious ingredients into show-stopping shapes like caterpillars, footballs, cats, and Christmas trees. Because what could be better to serve at your next Sunday game-day get together than a jalapeño-and-bacon football-shaped cheese ball?
Buy it here: $11 on Amazon

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